Blog 5 - Identity

The Twelfth Night or , What You Will by William Shakespeare shatters gender stereotypes in the form of a playful comedy. While this topic is still alive today, the idea of gender roles has been ongoing for centuries. Loyola held an event on November 9th called Sexuality and Justice: Beyond Rhetoric where a select group of courageous individuals shared their journey to discover their own sextuality. I found many parallels between this event and the theme of identity discussed in Shakespeare’s play. It is eye opening to note the parallels between a play written nearly 400 years ago and events that are ongoing within my school community and the world today.

Shakespeare focuses on the main theme of identity within the Twelfth Night or , What You Will. Viola disguises herself a man in order to get close to Duke Orsino. Her new name becomes Cesario and ironically Orsino begins to have feelings for him (her). Continuing the theme of breaking stereotypes and gender identity our other main character Olivia developes feelings for Cesario, who we know is actually Viola. This play must have been extremely controversial for Shakespeare’s time because the characters develop feelings for their same sex. The idea of same sex relationships was controversial for Shakespeare’s time period but still seen today.

Megan’s story stuck a cord with my most while I was pondering the relation between the panel and the play. Megan is gender non-binary which means they do not associate themselves with being neither male or female. Instead of using pronouns she/he they prefer they/their. Megan shared how her identity has shaped her relationship with her family. She describes them as traditional which unfortunately interferes with their acceptance of her identity. It is alarming that Shakespeare would write a play about similar identity matters and have them still be alive today. While we are more accepting than we were in Shakespeare’s era, the challenge of actually  being open to people’s identity is still prevalent in our society and Megan is an example of that.

This assignment really struck a chord with me because I still see the theme of self identity in my community today. Without this class I likely would not have attended  Sexuality and Justice: Beyond Rhetoric but I am grateful I did because it reminded me of the fact that people struggle with self acceptance and identity. In the future I hope that I can one day live in a world where people feel accepted for the way they self identify and the topics in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or , What You Will can be a less unordinary than is seems now or seemed back then.